I’ve attended a lot of networking events in my time – including a lot of speed networking events. There are a number of advantages and disadvantages to them that I will outline below. I am an advocate of you visiting a speed networking event at least once but I want you to go in with your eyes open. As such, I will also share some tips below that I think may help you with preparation for success at such an event.
Advantages of a Speed Networking Event
Meet more people – Speed Networking Events are a great avenue to meet a lot of business professionals in a short amount of time. At a more casual mixer you might meet 4 or 5 people over a night (this is still great networking) but at a Speed Networking Event you can meet 20+ people in a short amount of time.
Structured environment – The reason you get to meet so many people in a short amount of time at a Speed Networking Event is because of the structured environment that you get at a Speed Working Event. There are some slight differences in event structure but essentially it involves business people moving around the room, sitting down with a person and taking it in turns talking about their businesses before moving onto the next person.
Practice and refine your elevator pitch – Because you are meeting so many people and telling them what you do you get the perfect chance to refine your answer to the question “So what do you do?” Give your limited time frames with each person, you don’t have time to fumble through an answer. You can try different things, gauge responses from different people and adapt and refine your message accordingly. My personal favourite structure for an elevator pitch is the Problem/Solution Approach – “You know how….(define common problem experienced here), well I ….(explain how and why you have the perfect solution to the common problem people experience.)”
No idle chatter or uncomfortable silences – At a Speed Networking Event it’s just down to business. There is no chatter about the weather or about traffic (although I am a big fan of talking about Sport for rapport building.) At a Speed Networking Event it’s straight down to business and everyone knows why they are there.
There are some great benefits to Speed Networking Events but you should not just look at them through rose coloured glasses. There are some disadvantages that I have outlined below.
Disadvantages of a Speed Networking Event
Many are just there to sell and not create relationships – A major problem with Speed Networking Events is when inexperienced Networkers attend. There is a tendency from inexperienced Networkers to go straight into Sales mode. They look to sell to everyone in attendance before working out whether they have a problem in need of their solution. Like any event, Speed Networking is not about sales, it’s about creating relationships. Some Speed Networking Events do tend to attract these inexperienced networkers. These events I will attend once but then generally choose not to attend again because most of the other attendees are not really interested in creating relationships. I’ve followed up with those I thought more professional via email only to have a direct pitch of their services to me. It’s been a little disappointing but you move on quite quickly.
People forget quality and only think quantity – Further on from above, some attendees may only be thinking about the number of business cards that they can collect, not the quality of relationships that they can make. Some attendees may too quickly be eying off the next person in line instead of concentrating on the person in front of them and trying to develop a connection to find out how they can help each other. Not only is this rude but I can’t think of a quicker way for you to ruin potential future relationships.
In defining the problems associated with Speed Networking Events I’m not trying to stop you from attending. I am just trying to help open your eyes so when you see these issues you are less disappointed. By setting your expectations early you have a better chance of overall success.
Top tips to improve your chances of success at a Speed Networking Event
Remember that you are not there to sell, you are there to create relationships – You only have a short period of time with each attendee. Make sure that they know what you do but don’t go straight for the sale. It can be tempting given the short time frames but the purpose of a Speed Networking Event is not to generate sales (it’s great if sales happen but they should not be your priority.) A Speed Networking Event is a great way to meet a lot of people in a short amount of time and identify those from the attendees with whom you have connected to try and further this relationship. You do this via catching up after the meeting for a coffee or similar to flesh out any ways that you can help each other.
Practice and refine your elevator pitch before you get there – I mentioned elevator pitches above and want to reemphasise their importance. You only get one shot with a potential network partner and you don’t want to leave them confused. A confused mind will always say no. My personal preference for the elevator pitch is mentioned above. This is only one option. There are other options available to you. Just do a Google Search for Elevator Pitch.
Bring enough business cards – I’ve lost count of the times I’ve had people at a Speed Networking Event tell me they have “run out” of business cards. This astounds me. How do you come to an event without enough business cards. This shows me a lack of preparation and a lack of business forethought. Bring MORE THAN ENOUGH business cards for the people in the room.
Follow up with everyone – You won’t necessarily want to connect right away or develop deeper relationships with everyone in the room but you should follow up with everybody that you meet. You might not want to develop your relationship further straight away but in future they may become a valuable contact. I try to connect with people on LinkedIn and to send an email like the one below which is similar to one that Ivan Misner suggests in his book “Networking Like a Pro.”
Jim,
My name is Hamish and we met at the Speed Networking Event last Wednesday. I just wanted to let you know that your business sounds fantastic and it was great to hear that everything is going really well.
It was great talking to you and if you ever have any questions about Communications you know where to find me.
Have a great day.
Hamish
With an email like this I leave myself open to being able to reinforce this relationship later on should something change and should I want to develop a connection.
Speed Networking can be hit and miss. You won’t do business or develop relationships with everybody that you meet but you will have the opportunity to further relationships with some of those in attendance.
With this article I am not guaranteeing that every Speed networking event you attend will be a success but I know that the realisations I have come to and the work I have done to maximise my chances of success have meant less dissatisfaction with the outcome of events.